On the performance of higher order theories for transient dynamic analysis of sandwich and composite beams

Abstract

Higher-order shear-deformable refined theories, based on isoparametric elements, are adopted for transient dynamic analysis of symmetric and unsymmetric sandwich and composite beam constructions. These shear-correction coefficient free theories model cross sectional warping using nonlinear variation of inplane displacements across the depth. They also incorporate transverse shear stress in the formulation. A special lumping scheme is employed for the evaluation of diagonal mass matrix, and a central difference scheme is used for carrying out the integration of the equation of motion, to obtain the response history. Through numerical experiments, the efficacy of higher-order models in predicting displacements and stress, resultants over from the first-order theory, with respect to time, is clearly brought out in this paper.